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Imagine trying to play a basketball game with just six players on your team.
Last season, it took no imagination for the Alpena Lady Leopards. That was their reality.
“Last year the starting five would have to go the entire game so if we fouled out, it was pretty bad,” said senior Ariel Fowler.
Now it’s pretty good; really good in fact for Alpena.
That’s thanks to the sophomore class doubling their roster size.
“It’s nice to get a drink of water once in a while,” Fowler said.
It gives Alpena players the chance to rest occasionally and to play more aggressively without the fear of foul trouble.
“The sophomores moving up, they’ve given us a bench,” said senior Abby Dean.
It’s given them a good bench and some really good starters.
That has taken some of the pressure off the juniors and seniors.
“It’s like I don’t feel like I have to force things, I don’t feel like I have to do so much to help my team,” Dean said.
That’s because this is no ordinary sophomore class.
These second-year athletes compiled a 42-1 record at the junior high level.
All that success has them wanting more on the varsity team.
“When you get those wins, you want to keep winning,” said sophomore Alex Hill.
So far they’ve done just that, already passing last year’s win total with a half-dozen games to go.
The Lady Leopards also hold the top spot in their conference, and could win it for the first time in a few years.
“The last time my group won conference was in the 9th grade, so it would be really nice to end out with that,” Fowler said.
Perhaps a conference championship is just one accomplishment Alpena might achieve this year.
Even as just a sophomore, Hill, knows what it would mean to make a postseason run.
“To be able to say you’ve done that for Alpena, so when you look up and see the boards in the school or when people ask you can say that you’ve done that,” Hill said.
Even though a playoff run is a very real possibility, these Leopards aren’t taking their success for granted.
“Our coach always says it’s hard being good, and I think us staying humble and playing like we know how to play that just keeps us in a groove,” Dean said.
It’s a groove Alpena hopes it’ll stay in for quite a while.
